Radio France Internationale: Falun Gong Practitioners Held a Series of Activities

On January 21st 2004, RFI reported on a recent series of activities held by Falun Gong practitioners in its Mandarin broadcast to China and the Chinese area of Paris.

According to the report, the French Falun Dafa Association held a press conference on Tuesday, protesting that Falun Gong was excluded from the New Year Parade on Champs Elysees Avenue on January 24th and that Falun Gong practitioners would hold a parade in a Paris urban area on January 23rd, as well as a candlelight vigil near the Eiffel Tower.

The New Year Parade on Champs Elysees Avenue on January 24th is a public cultural activity demonstrating Chinese culture for all the Chinese people in France. When the French Falun Dafa Association applied, the application was interfered with by the Chinese Embassy. This unreasonable action by the Chinese Embassy aroused a lot of attention in society. Many social groups and people expressed their opposition to the Chinese Embassy using the New Year celebration activities to export China’s persecution of different beliefs to France.

It was also mentioned in the report that according to the Canadian Falun Dafa Association, it held a press conference with an international a human rights lawyer in Ottawa on Tuesday. They hoped the various crimes and “anti-war” crimes existing in Canadian law can be used to punish the persecutors of Falun Gong.